Go West Young Man

There is so much lingo in trucking that I think it confuses people who are just getting started at looking into the career.  People get all worked up about which companies are good ones to work for, and they also get confused on what type of trucking they want to do.  One of those things that confuses people is all the different types of jobs available.  Some of them are called regional, others are dedicated, some are Over The Road (OTR) while there are some that are called LTL, line-haul, local, and the list just goes on and on.  I serve what is called a dedicated account.  I am a dedicated driver for SAPA aluminum.  I am employed by Knight Transportation who has a contract with SAPA to provide drivers who are solely responsible for moving SAPA's freight.  Even more specifically, in my case, their freight from their plant in Delhi, Louisiana.

What I'm trying to point out is that even with a title like "dedicated," it doesn't mean that I only run the same routes all the time.  I spend a considerable amount of time running to some of the same customers, but there are so many of them that it keeps a nice variety in the job.  It still feels like I am an OTR driver because I go to so many places, and into so many different areas of the country.

We have several customers who are installers of stadium seating.  Often times those loads are delivered to the location of the stadium being constructed or remodeled.  Here's a link to a delivery I made at the Arizona State University Football Stadium.  The great thing about these customers is that we get to deliver to some very interesting places at times when working for them.  This past week after I got off from my time at home over Mother's Day weekend, I got dispatched on just such a run.  My dispatcher asked if I'd be interested in a trip to Oregon, and I jumped on the opportunity.  It was a one stop load that went to...

✔ Hermiston, Oregon

As I was working my way up through Colorado I stopped in Pueblo and checked the weather up ahead of me.  I was going to go up to Cheyenne, Wyoming and then turn West on I-80, but here we are nearing the end of May, and they are having such a heavy snow storm up there in between Cheyenne and Laramie that I-80 is closed until further notice!  That stretch of I-80 in Wyoming can be really trying in the winter time.  Not only is it common to have a lot of ice and snow up there, but the high winds that blow so fiercely through there have turned many a big truck over on it's side.  I quickly made a new plan to turn West right where I was and take Hwy 50 over through Colorado and then get on Hwy 6, up through the Spanish Fork Pass in Utah, thus avoiding that storm that was raging just to the North of me.  I went through the Monarch Pass in Colorado and had such a wonderful trip through the area that I felt compelled to share it with you.  I have some photos, but due to the narrow roadways I was on I didn't get to make very many stops for photos along the way.

Hwy 50 snakes along through the mountains and much of the time follows along the path of the Arkansas river, which makes for a very pleasant and scenic drive...

This is a fairly mild section of the river, but in many places this river flows rather rapidly through some interesting sections.  I saw several rafters in the area taking their chances at getting dunked in those rather cool waters as I snaked my way along through those canyons, going the opposite direction of the folks floating down the river.  At one point I stopped for my thirty minute break and watched as a storm came rolling in over the mountain tops in the distance...

Speaking of Mountain passes, while I was up in Oregon, and coming back through Wyoming I saw exits for a couple of passes that I avoided.  One of them was "Dead Man's Pass." and the other was "Rattlesnake Pass."  I don't know, but there was something about the names of those places that discouraged me from wanting to take them.  Oh, and another one that has an interesting history is "Donner's Pass."  If you don't know the story, I'll just let you "google it."  It has something to do with cannibalism - it was not a great day for those members of the Donner family, and those traveling with them.

Oregon, like much of the far West, can be quite rugged at times.  It also can surprise you suddenly.  At one point I was passing through what had to have been treacherous travel lanes for those brave pioneers who first came this way, when all of a sudden the mountains gave way and the terrain dropped down into a rich and fertile valley where there was all kinds of agricultural activities going on...

When I made my way to my final destination point, a brand new Rodeo Arena, being built for the High School Rodeo team by private investors, I was quickly unloaded by the waiting construction crew who I had made arrangements with earlier in the week.  Here's a look at them unloading my truck, and you can see the steel structure in the background where the aluminum bench seating will be installed...

Of interest to those wanting to learn how to be successful at this career is the fact that my original appointment for this load was set for Monday, but I could actually get there by Saturday morning if I pushed really hard.  I'm not talking about breaking the law, I had legitimately legal hours available to make it if I managed it right, but the problem was that my notes in the dispatch from customer service indicated that there would be no one available to unload me on Saturday.

Always one to try to make my own opportunities out here, I did a little research, found out the job superintendent's cell number, and gave him a call - well actually three calls, until I finall get hold of him and actually talk. I simply tell the man that I can be there Saturday morning if there is any way they can unload me. He is happy to do it, and tells me that they are not actually working that day because they don't have the materials they are needing, but they will just be sitting around at their hotel, and if I will call him when I'm getting close, he will meet me at the site and unload me.

Next thing I do is make a call to the folks in Phoenix, Arizona who help us find back haul loads for this dedicated account that I am serving. Usually I would just call my dispatcher in Louisiana and let him know that I had moved my appointment and he would handle the details, but he is out this week on vacation. I don't even want to bother the stand-in, who really doesn't have a clue about how things work on this account. I'm really not supposed to call the folks in Phoenix, but when I explained to them what was going on they thanked me for calling and said they would get right to work on finding me something for Saturday instead of Monday. It is critical on this account that we get back to Louisiana as quickly as possible so we can be dispatched onto another outgoing load from the manufacturing plant.

Somewhere during my last six hundred mile leg of the trip to Hermiston I got dispatched a pre-plan back haul load which has 2,800 miles on it!

Now I can't legally drive 5,000 miles in one week, but consider this: Had I just took my time and gotten this load there on Monday I would turn it in on Tuesday's cut-off for payroll - I would have a 2,200 mile pay check. Then if I got the same back haul (which is unlikely) I would have taken it by it's schedule and I would have my next week be a 2,800 mile paycheck. That's not bad, but neither is it impressive. I would have averaged 2,500 miles per week those two weeks. Many people are satisfied with that.

By doing what I did I have got a big jump start on the next weeks pay period. Being familiar with this account, and how it works, I can almost guarantee you what will happen when I finish this 2,800 mile run. I will be given a load to Connecticut with 1,400 miles on it that I can deliver just in time for the next payroll cut-off. So now let's do the math again... Three loads delivered in two weeks time with a total of 6,400 miles turned in. Now I have averaged 3,200 miles for those two weeks, just by taking some initiative of my own. When you do these types of things consistently you are really increasing your pay. You don't have to get a pay raise to make more money, you just have to understand how to play the game out here.

Here's the three important things I did...

✔ I moved my appointment time forward by making a few calls and presenting myself in a       professional way to the customer.

✔ I knew who to call at my company that would do what they could to keep me moving and     got them on the same page with me.

✔ I followed through and did what I said I would do - no excuses, just "git er done."

I tell people all the time that this job is more like being self-employed than any other you can have. Here's what successful self-employed people who are their own boss do: They seize every opportunity that is given them, and then on top of that they are vigilant about making their own opportunities happen whenever possible. That is what I did this week, and to be honest with you I'm on the hunt for opportunities each day that I am out on the road. You need to be an opportunist to make stuff happen out here, and when the people that you work with understand your abilities, they will be right in there to support you. They recognize the kind of drivers who are consistently getting more accomplished, and they are more than willing to get behind that kind of driver with their support. You have got to be consistent at this, so don't over extend yourself and start messing things up. Learn your craft and build upon a good foundation. If you drop the ball too many times you will lose their trust, and that will cost you.

Knowing the log book rules, managing your time efficiently, and being willing to make a few sacrifices that other drivers may not, are key factors in being a top tier driver. Taking your own initiative, and producing consistent results are key ingredients to success out here.

Okay, I hope I am not so long winded that I am boring you, but just a few more things of interest to note about this trip.  I stopped at a truck stop somewhere along the way that still had some of the old vestiges of the "Old School" days of trucking.  Now days we all communicate with our company, or our dispatchers, through cell phone communications, or more likely through our Qualcomm tablet in our trucks.  Back in the day, truck drivers used "Pay Phones" at the truck stops to find out what they were to be doing next.  Here's a look at what almost any of the old truck stops would have somewhere in the building...

That is a look at a place where nine different truck drivers could sit and talk on the pay phones (way back in the day it was a dime to make a phone call, and later it jumped up to a quarter) to their company to report problems or just to find out what they needed to do next.  Here's a closer look at a pay phone for you youngsters to see.  I know some of you wouldn't even know what it was...

When you start your day as early as I often do, (on this particular morning I started my work day at 2:30 a,m,) you will often get to enjoy scenes such as this sunrise in Wyoming...

I took I-80 in Wyoming on my back-haul load because my first stop was in David City, Nebraska. They had it opened back up after just a day or two.  My back-haul load was loaded at the SAPA plant in Spanish Fork, Utah and here's the places it delivers to...

✔ Timpte Industries in David City, Nebraska

✔ Ryerson Metals in Omaha, Nebraska

✔Chicago Tube & Iron in Milan, Illinois

✔Earle M. Jorgenson Company in Schaumburg, Illinois

I've loaded several times at the plant in Spanish Fork when I am up in this area of the country.  It is a beautiful area and even the views from the plant are aesthetic enough for a tourist to enjoy.  This photo was taken just outside the gate of the SAPA plant after I got my truck loaded.

After delivering in Schaumburg, Illinois I will be "dead heading" back to Delhi, Louisiana to find out what my next load assignment is.